I went to Sarikamis in 2014 and I have already booked there again for 2015. Why?

Well, as another reveiwer already mentioned, I'm surprised someone would even criticise the snow quality. It is just amazing! The lifts are Doppelmayr and you have free access to the wooden huts at each peak where you can have a tea or just rest.

I stayed at Bildik hotel which is a budget hotel in Sarikamis. There are also other budget hotels that you won't find searching on the internet.
Sarikamis has nothing to offer after your ski/snowboard day is over. Some people prefer to party all night; I prefer to rest and be fresh for next day's riding.

Sarıkamış Ratings

Access: 4.4

(1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day &ndash; you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Sarıkamış.

Public Transport: 4.6

(1) There are no buses or taxis to Sarıkamış, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.

Scenery: 4.7

(1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.

Accommodation: 4.4

(1) No places to stay in/near Sarıkamış, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.

Cheap Rooms: 4.4

(1) No budget accommodation available, (3) just one or two hostels so book ahead, (5) several cheap hostels and pensions available.

Luxury Hotels: 4.4

(1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Sarıkamış.

Ski in/Ski out: 4.6

(1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.

Childcare: 4.3

(1) There are no child care facilities at Sarıkamış, (5) the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche.

Snowsure: 4.6

(1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Sarıkamış is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.

Snowmaking: 2.6

(1) Sarıkamış relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.

Snow Grooming: 4.5

(1) There are no snow groomers at Sarıkamış, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Sarıkamış are groomed daily.

Shelter: 4.5

(1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Sarıkamış is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.

Nearby options: 3.6

(1) If snow conditions are poor at Sarıkamış, it will be poor everywhere nearby, (3) there are good alternatives within an hours drive, (5) other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions.

Regional rating: 4.8

(1) Sarıkamış usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region, (3) has average conditions for the region, (5) usually has the best snow conditions in the region.

Lift Staff: 4.5

(1) The staff at Sarıkamış are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Sarıkamış are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.

Crowds/Queues: 4.3

(1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.

Ski Schools: 4.2

(1) No ski schools available, (2) one or two ski schools but local language only, (3) a few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors, (4) plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available, (5) excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors.

Hire and Repairs: 4.4

(1) Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex. (3) there are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance, (5) good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible.

Variety of pistes: 4.4

(1) The ski runs are featureless and unvaried, (3) the ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week, (5) Sarıkamış has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain.

Beginners: 4.5

(1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.

Intermediates: 4.6

(1) No intermediate terrain at Sarıkamış, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.

Advanced: 4.4

(1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.

Snow Park: 3.5

(1) Not even a kicker at Sarıkamış, (3) average sized park quite well looked after, (5) huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails.

Off-piste: 4.2

(1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.

Cross-country: 4.1

(1) There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Sarıkamış, (3) there are some cross country trails available, (5) the area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails.

Luge/Toboggan: 3.9

(1) No designated luge or toboggan runs, (3) there are toboggan runs that open quite often, (5) Sarıkamış has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages.

Mountain Dining: 4.5

(1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.

Eating: 4.5

(1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.

Apres-Ski: 3.4

(1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.

Other Sports: 3.9

(1) No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts, (3) resort has just a small public swimming pool, (5) resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool.

Entertainment: 3.7

(1) Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here, (3) the non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week, (5) the resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports.

Winter Walks: 4.1

(1) Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails, (3) a couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails, (5) extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities.

Ski Pass Value: 4.6

(1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.

Value (National): 4.4

(1) Overall, Sarıkamış is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money, (3) overall represents average value for money, (5) overall offers the best value resort in the country.

Value (Global): 4.6

(1) Overall, Sarıkamış is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

Some absurd and ridiculous people criticised Sarıkamış illogically.The quality of the snow is first class and there are many hotel possibilities even for poor foreigners who like to criticise our Turkish hospitality.

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February 16, 2011Bülent ÖZDAMAR from Turkey

Sarıkamış is a really cheap and beautiful ski resort in Turkey with its long and beautiful pistes. Especially for snowboarder (boarding through the pine trees) it's amazing. Also, you have a lot of options for accommodation. One of the cheapest and comfortable hotel in city centre is ARAS HOTEL. You can check its prices through their web site.

October 19, 2010Shahab from Iran

This resort is nice and the hotels are really enjoyable, but the resort is not good itself because of its slop. Sarıkamış is really flat and not desired for snowboards. I needed someone to pull me. But the nature is absolutely perfect.

March 25, 2010Hakan Çizmeci from Turkey

Sarıkamış is a great place for snowboarders. Pistes are wide, long and uncrowded. Thanks to three detachable chair lifts waiting in line is out of question. Riding powder through the pine trees is an exceptional and amazing experience.

Sarıkamış is very nice because of the snow, hotels and piste. Sarıkamış people are very nice...thank you

February 23, 2010Mohammad FOROOGHIEH from Iran

Sarikamis (Sarıkamış) is one of the nicest resorts of Turkey that I have experienced during my stay there. Actually, Sarikamis is a nice place with very beautiful nature and the tracks are between a forest of pine trees. In fact, Sarikamis is not a big resort with lots of equipments and facilities, but it's unique scenes and views worth to be there and enjoy skiing and making lots of photos there. There is a special type of snow material there which make you feel different in comparison to other places and if the piste is not being ready, it would be so difficult to ski in fresh snow as it was so sticky and it was not possible to speed up. There was also hotels in the area (I remember Toprak and Camkar) which makes easy stay and enjoy your time. I also visited a guy came from Istanbul there and it was interesting that, in spite of the fact that there is a famous resort close to Istanbul, he prefers to travel a lot and come to Sarikamis in order to enjoy the unique and calmness of there. I recommend this resort (Sarıkamış) for the ones that have the opportunity to go there.

It is a very nice place, with pistes surrounded by pine trees. Sometimes you have the absolute silence while climbing up and this is really surprising.
The snow quality is good. However, the piste alternatives are not very rich. The pistes are not difficult either, I mean even so called black piste should be, at most, red. It is a nice experience though and worth a visit. Especially would be good for varying experience level groups and families.

December 16, 2005 ahmet kaya from Turkey

Cheapest ski resort in Turkey but it's too far even for the people live in Turkey. It's a good place for people who look for a quiet ski holiday